Recycle Your Holiday Lights with My Green Earth!

20 Million Pounds of Twinkling Lights

In a single year in the United States, over 20 million pounds of holiday lights are discarded. These lights typically contain materials like copper, glass, and plastic—all of which can be reclaimed through recycling processes. By recycling instead of landfilling holiday lights, you conserve valuable resources, avoid energy-intensive production of new materials, and prevent potentially harmful substances in the lights, such as lead and mercury, from leaching into our soil and water.

As with many other materials, you probably know that recycling holiday lights is better than landfilling them, but aren’t sure how or where to recycle them. The most important guideline to follow is to never put string lights in your curbside bin. They get tangled in the sorting equipment at the recycling facility and have to be manually taken out. Instead, find a dropoff site or recycling center that will accept holiday lights and recycle them properly. Not sure where to go? We can help!

We have partnered with The Space Shop Self Storage throughout Cobb to provide conveniently located dropoff bins. The bins will be available until Saturday, January 6, 2024. There are also a few other locations in or near Cobb that will accept your broken holiday lights. See the list below:

Where to Recycle Holiday Lights in Cobb County, Georgia

THE SPACE SHOP OF EAST COBB 2925 W Frank Gordy Pkwy. Marietta, GA 30066 Hours: The collection bin is outside by the office door. Dropoff anytime!

THE SPACE SHOP OF SMYRNA 2520 Spring Rd. Smyrna, GA 30080 Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm, Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm

THE SPACE SHOP OF MABLETON 769 Nickajack Rd SW Mableton, GA 30126 Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm, Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm

SMYRNA RECYCLING CENTER 645 Smyrna Hill Dr. Smyrna, GA Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8:00am - 4:00pm and Thursdays from noon – 8:00pm

FULTON METALS RECYCLING 11460 N Fulton Industrial Blvd, Alpharetta, GA 30009, Hours: Monday - Friday: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Saturday: 9:00am - 1:30pm

If you are aware of additional locations that offer holiday light recycling, please let us know! Email info@mygreenearth.org.

This holiday season, brighten your homes with the warmth of holiday lights and brighten the planet for future generations by embracing sustainable habits! Recycle those lights!